support for julian assange public figures in germany add their voices to calls for the wiki leaks founder to be released from prison. on helena humphrey glad you could join me a german state provia is stepping down just a day off to being controversially elected with the help of far right extremists thomas kenniff a from the business friendly free democrats won a vote in the eastern state of terror india with the backing of the far right alternative for germany and chancellor angela merkel's conservative c.d.u. party the chancellor has described the election as unfair give a go can have a he says his resignation was inevitable to remove the state of the far right involvement. and joining me now from frankfurt is michelle freedman a lawyer journalist and political analyst welcome to you now we're already seeing but it's cool fallout from this with the free democrats now saying that they want to dissolve the state parliament what would that mean. it means that we had seen and participate on the political earthquake it was the 1st time a premium afterword to 2 that with the votes of the liberals and the conservative parties but the participation of the right fall extremist movement if the into ringin were the leader is somebody who we can call a fascist and which are tremendously resi racists that with these votes somebody was elected being a prime minister of one of the countries and today the reaction was very clear we have a serious damage of political culture in germany this premier is a disaster for the political culture in this country and it is also a disaster taking in consideration that last week the 27th of january we had the commemoration of the liberation of the camps 70 years after and a week later a party like the a 58 which is a high also a party which is known being also a party with the cemetery. point of views was deciding who is now a new elected prime minister so today the actual situation changed the prime minister resigned but the damage will be a damage for more than this day we had to talk about we're talking about this day of the course that one day we've seen yet to be completely 10 is back on the a.f.d. so why doesn't the governing cd party this year in itself similarly committee. this c.d.u. is a huge discussion in the east and german countries and there have poets in this party who are asking why is it impossible right this is not allowed not officially to be in a coalition with the right extremist parties but to have a certain day the experience of. working together and whatever this means under the level of a coalition and this conflict explodes during the elections yesterday and we have to be very clear on that the leader of the party on it. was very very strong very clear and said never ever see the blue ones to work with the a.f.p. and always who hear the c s u from the via was very clear but there will be discussions after yesterday and these discussions are also very necessary as we see in europe in ungar e. in poland we had this experience to form a government in austria we know that the movements in france of the right extremist parties the so-called in liberal democracy parties that these parties increasingly winning votes and in germany we have for the 1st time the same question in one of the countries and we saw also in germany the situation has to be cleared by all the other democratic parties it was a very bad day yesterday for germans democracy and that was it clear participation from the f.t.p. the liberals and the cd. all right mr friedman ain frank that thanks a lot thank you. well the world health organization is calling for ways to 700000000 dollars to help fight the coronavirus is that the money is needed to help countries that don't have systems in place to combat the virus meanwhile the death toll is approaching 600 people and more than 28000 people have been infected china's capital beijing is not at the center of the outbreak but correspondent mathias pulling a found that streets and squares deserted as the government attempts to bring the disease under control. a rare sight in the dry winters of beijing the gate to the forbidden city covered in snow a few people have come out to take in this spectacle but getting inside is out of the question just like almost all public facilities beijing's most famous historic site remains closed thank you to it's good that the government took these measures we support them we do appreciate even strength to measure is your. business activity has largely come to a halt across much of the capital this is usually a bustling commercial street lots of souvenir shops snack shops tourists who visit beijing usually come to spend time here today i'm the only one. every day human interaction has become suspicious this shop asked its customers to stay outside and communicate their needs from the outside. some pharmacies take this same approach everyone is wary. because the younger it's a national emergency we stand together when a standing together should not be taken literally residential complexes keep strangers out in this compound visitors have to register with their id the guards look for the place of birth who are overweight people can't get any even if they live here they'll be quarantined only people from who province where the virus originated are to be isolated in this hotel discrimination against them is now rampant. at the entrance to the subway system a mandatory temperature check. the same site as everywhere in the city lots of space. trains are running as usual it's the passengers who were in. this circle i met some of beijing's most patient in the shopping area as the railway station. going around a. lot more than the. beijing has we ported less than $300.00 cases so far but fear here has spread much faster than the virus ever could. to the us now where president donald trump has made his 1st public comments since his acquittal at his impeachment trial now wednesday will make his in the republican controlled senate found not guilty all of these of power and obstruction he was a negative withheld military aid to ukraine to benefit his own reelection campaign and trump lashed out at democrats attempting to remove him from office at the annual national prayer breakfast in washington d.c. . as everybody knows my family our great country. and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal. by some very dishonest and corrupt people. they have done everything possible to destroy us and by so doing very badly hurt our nation they know what they are doing is wrong. but they put themselves far ahead. of our great country. that was president trump speaking there just a few moments ago and if you want to find out more about the outcome of this impeachment trial you can head to our web site for some more analysis that is on w dot com let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world this hour israeli police say they are investigating a car ramming in jerusalem as a terrorist attack 14 pedestrians mostly soldiers were injured when the car sped into them police say the driver fled the scene in the vehicle the incident cavers 2 colored stadiums were killed in clashes with israeli forces. 3 people were killed and dozens injured when a plane skidded off the runway it stumbles 2nd biggest airport the boeing 737 caught fire and split into 3 pieces after landing in bad weather the flight was operated by turkish low cost carrier pegasus. italian authorities say 2 people were killed when a high speed train derailed several others suffered serious injuries an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the derailment which happened about 50 kilometers south of milan. 7 police officers in chile have been suspended after a video emerged showing an 18 year old being beaten of by offices mathias soto suffered fractured ribs and back injuries following the attack accusations about police brutality have been on the rise since protests over inequality began last october a warning this report does contain some upset images. a police officer pushes materials sotto to the ground and not the hits him with the facts and before 5 more would join him with the beatings the 18 year old is left with fractured ribs and injuries to his back but his family knows it could have been so much worse. but again i mean you know they acted in a totally cowardly way their criminals to get out of a van 3 vans to have just one person. they were merciless kicks my son received could have killed him. my son was very lucky there was c.t. t.v. recording at that house i think that to be part of our defense against people chilling could not defend itself against it you know. since last october public protests and violence have plagued chile's capital santiago they began peacefully over a hike in metro fares but as frustrations about why did inequality emerged they soon escalated. and according to many so too has police brutality just last week a football fan was hit and killed by a police truck. this together with thousands of other complaints we have received regarding serious human rights violations should not go unpunished there must be truth and justice because these. 7 police officers have been suspended following the attack on mateo soto outside santiago. look at all the needles those police were removed from their usual operational jobs at this time their managers are following the necessary regulatory legal disciplinary and administrative measures going into illegally. so he is recovering from his injuries his supporters hope the release of this c.c.t.v. footage will prevent other attacks like he's. here watching the news still to come wiki leaks founder julian assange just to to appear in court in london in connection with an extradition request find the united states but the u.n. ruffled terror on torture tells us he believes the west and democracies on the nic creating the evidence. and the man who was this france because we look back on the life and reviews of hollywood legend cup douglas who has died and the age of 103. now it's a practice that usually causes lifelong physical and psychological damage female genital mutilation or a g.m. now the united nations has set today february 6th as an annual day to draw attention to the problem which is more widespread than you might think now s.g.m. is carried out in a communities around the world but it is particularly present prevalent in these regions in africa the arab world as well as in asia or in the practice consists of the partial or total removal of girls external genitalia now it is thought that up to $200000000.00 women and girls have undergone some form of female genital mutilation and egypt ethiopia and indonesia have by far the most cases in egypt 87 percent of women there between the ages of $15.49 a thought to be affected he went to indonesia to meet a family for whom s.g.m. is a normal part of life. the decision has already been made poetry is just 3 years old but she's already undergone an irreversible surgery that's fraught with controversy and she had no choice in the matter. it was done when she was a week old to be cut before she's 40 days old if it's delayed she might feel embarrassed when she's older but when she's a baby she doesn't have any feelings of shame and model demand. it's estimated nearly half of all women in indonesia have undergone the procedure in 2006 the government tried to ban the practice religious clerics reacted releasing an edict declaring it a part of religious tradition less than 5 years later a new regulation allowing health practitioners to perform if g.m. was introduced still many doctors disagree with it. medically speaking there is no benefit to f.d.m. in fact it's more dangerous than beneficial especially if it's carried out by someone who is not a trained medical professional. for all the medical expertise in evidence against if g.m. the practice continues leaving millions of girls like poetry to carry the scars for the rest of their lives. well joining us now in the studio is kind of etic she's a journalist and former manager at the german iraqi ngo valid and its top f g m middle east project i'm so glad you're with us on this important day for tackling this issue how it must be something that is difficult to get to grips with when it's about changing people's minds on something that is a long running trunk tradition how do you go about the whole well 1st of all the thing is what is the condition what is the background why do people do that and it's very different it varies from country to country. and we do have all saw huge developments of where it is it is a tradition but it is we have the problem of medicalization in some countries where it's a tradition is changing. how do we go about it well i can talk about iraq about iraqi kurdistan we had a very preferable situation. or have because it's a very young democracy there is a vivid civil society this is really important because one of the things you can say worldwide wherever it happens you need a community based approach you need to work with the community not against it. and there with this new situation with new democracy you people are very open to change and to ideas of women's liberation so you did have that market success within one generation in iraq. what exactly did you do to empower people in those communities to deliver the message well yet we have this to success it's one region of iraqi kurdistan where we've started our work 15 years ago and one is persistency we there was not a single day when not one teams which are kurdish women visited one of the villages and spoke to people but there was also this very broad. a law was passed laws are really important that prohibited in kurdistan. we worked with the government therefore with the police with lawyers with. with with religious leaders religious leaders really important because there are explanations there that it is an islamic duty must be said most muslims do not believe it is but some do. you talk to the man in the villages right and how receptive with a they were actually very receptive once they understood the issue we had man. coming up to our office thanking us because they finally understood what was wrong in their marriage i want to ask you i mean this is a global issue and i think that shouldn't be forgotten how much of an issue is this in europe. well there are only estimates. and the estimates are high. which can collect what makes this estimates with other organizations and other e.u. countries. says it's should be a round hole for 1000000 affected who have undergone f.d.m. and i know there are i think 180000. who are your yeah 180000 who are at risk however these are extra palatial that they say ok we have so in so many cases in the countries of origin so therefore the migrants are affected in the same way but this might not might be the case or might not be the case like for example the kurds. they abandon the practice very quickly here while other communities do not so this needs to be looked into as well i had a vetting thank you so much for coming in and speaking about this so openly and helping others to do the same way appreciate it thank you. group of celebrities and politicians in germany have launched an appeal to have wiki leaks founder julian assange released from jail in a britain now more than $130.00 public figure is our own edging the u.k. to follow the advice of the un special rapporteur on torture to release a song on medical grounds former foreign minister is among them now the founder of wiki leaks which publishes news leaks and classified material is in a high security british prison awaiting extradition to the united states on spying charges he previously evaded capture by taking diplomatic refuge. the 1st few months that julian assange spent in the ecuadorian embassy in london it was all defiant and optimistic gestures 7 years later he would emerge as a broken man. when british police tracked the wiki leaks founder out of the diplomatic mission in 2019 he looked confused and was almost unrecognizable. a u.n. expert on torture said a son showed symptoms of psychological torture some fear this torture may still be happening today so how did we get here and why. julian assange to grow fuge in the ecuadorian embassy and 2012 after sweden asked the u.k. to extradite the wiki leaks founder to answer allegations of rape in that country. her son has always denied those allegations saying there were pretense to have him eventually extradited to the united states where he is wanted on espionage charges . as we can you expand under threat so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our society. his supporters share this view they say the swedish rape allegations were fabricated and an excuse to punish a sanch for the leaking of hundreds of thousands of confidential government documents and for exposing possible war crimes. one high profile leak was a video obtained from the u.s. military which wiki leaks says shows he was soldiers opening fire on people in baghdad and killing several civilians and 2 journalists. a son just now in a maximum security prison in the u.k. and continues to fight against his extradition to the united states if he loses his fight and disconnected in the u.s. the wiki leaks founder faces up to 175 years in jail. screen legend kirk douglas has died at the age of $103.00 now he rose from humble beginnings to become one of the biggest stars of hollywood's golden age his son the acts of michael douglas announced his death saying it was a life well lived with a legacy in film that will ensure for generations. in film and in life he was the underdog who refused to take things lying down kirk douglas his most famous role was as a roman gladiator who led a slave revolts in the 1960 movie spartacus i was like champion trying to punch my way to success. you see george it was easy for me to. say oh i like. i don't want to be. my life. i want to hear people call me mr. the son of russian jewish immigrants douglas fought hard to reach the top even working as a firm ground to pay for acting lessons he appeared in more than 80 films and his cleft chin became his trademark ductless enjoyed playing villains and characters on the edge right after being nominated 3 times he was finally given an oscar award for lifetime achievement in 1996 or you and i. knew a touching tribute from his son actor michael douglas died i love you so much and i'm so proud to be your son the last hero of hollywood's golden age has passed away at the age of 103. this is e.w. news these are top stories a german state premier is stepping down just a day after being controversially elected with the help of far right extremists thomas kennedy from the pro business free democrats won the vote in the eastern state of 3 india with the backing of the far right alternative to germany and i'm going to mark as conservatives the chancellor called the election unforgivable. china says the number of confirmed corona virus infections has now topped $28000.00 more than $560.00 people have died the world health organization has appealed for almost $700000000.00 to help the less developed economies deal with the global health emergency. 3 people were killed and dozens injured when a plane skidded off the runway it is stumbles 2nd the biggest apple was a boeing 737 caught fire in space into 3 pieces after landing in bad weather. legendary hollywood actor kirk douglas has died at the age of 103 he made his name in hollywood's golden age of movie making and was one of the biggest box office stars of the 1950 s. and sixty's. this is the news from berlin for more followers on twitter d w news or visit our website is did already dot com well i'm helena humphrey thanks for joining us i'll be back with more news for you at the top of the hour up next our magazine series focus on your r.c.c. . the from. the comes. from the from going. to. the gym. 2 brothers in slovakia contact between corruption and keanu money and caution are a businessman accused of hiring a hitman. either on caution are a cache owner fighting for democracy. 2 brothers who couldn't be more different and they're torn country some good spawn girl. next want to have. more. showing up today don't miss our highlights. programme on line d.w. dot com hard to. imagine being born. your along with a compromise commitment. you want to look for no school. you want to be. but on the outlook when you're sick the doctors know. when you fall in love they won't. you don't have children for fear they'll be invisible to. you assure. when you die there's no question. every 10 minutes. someone. 10000000 people in the world at stake they have no nationality and told them they don't belong and. that everyone has the right. everyone has the right to say. oh and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin in slovakia a country where tensions are running high and head of upcoming parliamentary elections and a country still traumatized by the 2000 and.